Ask a Vegan Baker

This question is for Jackie who shared the lovely recipe above. Within the recipe, you call for Cashew Cream and provided a link. When I went there, all I found was a recipe for Creamy Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting. Is that what you meant? I cannot digest soy products so the cashew cream is the one I went for. Can hardly wait for your answer so I can make this yummy sounding ice cream! Thanks so much, Marcia...

Under the newly passed Cottage Food laws, it's legal to bake and sell from home now. I couldn't find a good list of home bakers. After much google'ing, I've been able to put together a list at http://bakerlist.org. What are your thoughts? I welcome any feedback & discussion....

Hi there I'm pretty new to vegan baking and running a cupcake stall at a tattoo convention this weekend and would like to offer a vegan option. I am making vegan oreo cupcakes and would like to know how long the average shelf life is on an uniced vegan cupcake? If someone could get back to me A.S.A.P that'd be grand Thank you for your time, Kevin....

Hi, I'm trying to increase my reach and I want to switch from my home oven and other equipment to some more professional. We bake cookies, muffins, cakes, and some other goods. I would appreciate some guidelines on what to look for when purchasing this new equipment, either brands or some general markers would be of great help. Thanks, Samuel...

I want to make one of the granola recipes posted, but it calls for wheat germ and oat germ. I don't have those. Can I replace it with something I do have, like ground flax? thanks in advance...

I know most readers and Matt are bakers, however I don't eat pizza often, and would like to be able to bake a yeast free sourdough crust, if possible made form rye, without feeding a sourdough mix. Do you know where I can buy such a crust if it is available? I found a good website for scratch sourdough: sourdough.com Thanks....

So many of the ones you can find in the store aren't very transparent about ingredients. I can find easy ones like pure Vanilla and Almond, but if I want something like Watermelon, Coconut, Cotton Candy, or Root Beer then its hard for me to tell. They tend to list the ingredients as "natural and artificial flavors". I was looking at some LorAnna in the store, so many flavors but I had no idea if it had something unsavory in it. I haven't had much luck online either. Do you know of any brands that are reasonable priced and safe?...

What should I look for in a recipe if I want to make it ahead of time and freeze? Or what ingredients should I avoid freezing? Items like cookie dough, or baked cupcakes/muffins for example. What makes a recipe ok to freeze?...

What can I use to replace the Barley Malt Syrup? I don't have any and want to make the muffins tonight! Thanks, in advance, for your help. Marcia...

I want to make a Boston cream pie. Made the cake (from Fran Costigan's More great vegan desserts) and I made a filling (pastry cream) from basically cornstarch, sugar, soy milk, vanilla and some cashew butter. It tastes OK... I had to whip it after it sat in the fridge overnight as it was more like pudding than anything else... but now it looks more like cream filling. Any ideas on what to add to it to make it more realistic? Have never eaten a 'real' one as I am not American but my husband is actually from Boston so I thought I would surprise him with this....

How do I replace the egg yolk in this "Extra Rich Short Crust Pastry" recipe? Ingredients 2.75 c (390 grams) all-purpose flour scooped & leveled, plus more 1 t kosher salt 9 oz (2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons) very cold high-fat, european-style butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten 2 T cream Full recipe; http://www.sippitysup.com/extra-rich-short-pastry Thanks...

I love chocolate chip cookies but most recipes seem to call for a lot of oil/margarine. Back when I used eggs I had this recipe that only called for 1/4 cup of olive oil along with two eggs and they came out great. I've been trying to veganize it (with two flax eggs) but the result is rubbery cookies that I have to toss each time. Is there a way to come up with a cookie recipe with less oil? The most important aspect for me is the way cookies spread while baking! (weird i know, but I just love when the ball shaped dough actually spreads during baking to form cookies) In my attempts so far, they never really spread, which I guess has to do with the amount of oil? I would appreciate any tips! (fyi the recipe i used also called for 2-1/4 cups flour, 1tsp baking soda, 1-1/4 cup brown sugar etc.)...

Coconut oil and vegan margarine are hard to come by where I live. I could try to make my own vegan butter, however, the one brand of coconut oil that i can find is extra virgin with a heavy flavour (I love the taste but it just doesn't go well with everything.) Is there a way to make vegan margarine without it?...

What can I use instead of cream cheese and heavy cream? In the original recipe, I have to whip the heavy cream until stiff. It's a no-bake recipe. Also, would the substitue work in a recipe that you bake?...

i have followed cake receipes to make a "yellow" birthday cake and have failed miserably. This is the second time, I've followed recipes to the T, the cakes come out with a weird consistency and not tasting like cake. The latest recipe I tried was very simple 4 cups cake flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup dairy-free margarine 2 cups granulated sugar 2 cups soy milk (used allmond) 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 cup silken tofu mix the dry ingredients mix the sugar and margarine until light and fluffy. Add the milk,vanilla, tofu and mix add the cake flour mixture to the wet mixture. bake at 375 x 25 minutes. the consistency is weird, doesn't taste like birthday cake, what I was going for. It's definitely a throw out!...

Hi, just wondering why so many recipes contain cider vinegar? Would I be ok to miss this out?...

Hi, I'am from Denmark (living in Norway), and here we have a lovely bread, called "Stone Age Bread". The simple recipe is: 6 egg, 1/2 cup of oil, 2 teaspoons salt, 120 grams of each ingredient: *almonds *walnuts *pumpkin seeds *sesame-, *flax-, and sunflower seeds. All mixed together (nuts shall not be chopped), and poured into a bread mold. Baking in 1 hour, 160C. I want so badly to replace the eggs. I have tryed with different egg replaces, but it do not work, because the bread is so heavy. The best I have tryed, is replace the egg with 2 cup of water and 4 teaspoons xanthangum. The bread holds its shape, but it's wet, even I keeps it in the oven for a long time (1 hour, 200C). I also have the bread in the warm oven 1 hour after the oven is turn of. I dont want to replace the egg with gluten or any flour with gluten. Do you have a good suggestions? I would be very happy and thankful for your answer. Thank you soo much!! ...

I posted this as a reply to another question about cupcakes and did not get any replies so thought I would add it as its own question as I still haven't managed to make cupcakes like my DIL does . I love the vanilla cupcake recipe from VCTOTW as long as I use the margarine version and not the oil. However... my husband says the crumb is on the coarse side compared to the cupcakes my DIL bakes for him (she uses eggs). Any ideas? Is it to do with the chemical reaction with the vinegar do you think? They taste good and are moist but the texture is a bit airier than my DIL's cupcakes. DIL (who is a pastry chef) suggested changing the vinegar away from apple cider vinegar. I tried using some red wine vinegar in the mocha cupcakes I baked yesterday. But... crumb is still coarse. Husband munching away on them as I type but changing the vinegar didn't help in this case. I also tapped the muffin pan on the counter before baking in case the air holes were the problem....